


who you gonna call?

by third



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Ghosts, M/M, happy halloween!!!, mark lee the friendly ghost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 10:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16473479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/third/pseuds/third
Summary: There's a ghost haunting Jeno's new apartment. Jeno wishes it did more interesting things than tidy up his kitchen and wake him up when his laundry is ready.





	who you gonna call?

The first time Jeno thinks that there’s something strange going on in his apartment is when he wakes up on a Monday morning and finds all the mugs that he accumulated over the weekend put away. Jeno stares at his clean kitchen for a minute, before thinking that maybe he tidied up when he was tired and forgot all about it, so he just goes about his day.

The second time Jeno thinks something is up is when he’s frantically searching for his student ID card. There’s a test the next day and a book in the library that Jeno desperately needs for at least a feeble chance of passing. He checks his desk once and then twice, but then the third time he checks, his card is miraculously in the middle of the desk like it was always there. Jeno’s too grateful to think about it and rushes out of his apartment like his grades and _life_ depend on it. (They both kind of do.)

The third time Jeno thinks something is amiss is when on a lazy Saturday morning, Jeno throws some laundry into the washing machine and decides to take a quick nap. Hanging clothes after 10 a.m. means that they’ll never dry before the sun sets, so Jeno sets an alarm for thirty minutes. If it weren’t for Jeno’s affinity for take out and dubious online purchases, he could possibly use his dryer, but as it is, he’d rather try to cut down his electricity bill. Jeno’s woken up by a light breeze, and something cold on his face, but when he opens his eyes nothing is there. He slept through his alarm but luckily, Jeno still has time to hang the clothes out. 

Jeno knows for sure that his apartment is haunted when he showers in the morning of an important quiz. Jeno’s walking back into the bathroom to hang his towel on the rack to dry, when he sees something that nearly makes him drop everything. On the bathroom mirror, written in the condensation, it says, _Good luck with your quiz! P.S. You left your keys in the fridge._

Good thing for that, really, because 1) Jeno really needs the luck and 2) Jeno cannot for the life of him remember putting his keys in the fridge so his friendly apartment ghost just saved him the time and stress of looking for them. 

Thanks, friendly ghost. 

 

 

After his quiz, Jeno rushes back home after finally having the mental capacity to process everything. He was too rushed in the morning, and his brain, weirdly enough, immediately connected the strange occurrences of his apartment to a ghost rather than the possibility that someone was actually in his apartment. 

Jeno stands in the middle of his living room, and feels a bit like an idiot as he says into the open space, “Uh, thank you for telling me where my keys were… and for the luck. I’m not really sure that there’s actually a ghost in here or if someone is hidden in my apartment and is watching me, and honestly I prefer the ghost alternative, so if you’re out there, please give me a sign.”

A few minutes pass and nothing happens, and Jeno is seriously considering whether he should call the police or like a dumbass in a scary movie, check his apartment to see whether there are any uninvited guests of the human kind. Jeno thinks he has a bat that he can carry around as he searches his apartment. At the very least, he has a long umbrella. 

But then, on his fridge, the magnetic letters that Renjun jokingly gave to Jeno as a housewarming gift start to move. First, Jeno watches as the _A_ moves. And then, the _S_ moves on its own, dragging itself across the fridge like an invisible hand is moving it, which may actually be what’s happening here. And then the _I_ moves and Jeno knows what the ghost is writing out and immediately starts to judge. On the fridge, the ghost has written, _A SIGN._

Not only does Jeno have a ghost haunting his apartment, but it’s also a lame one at that. Well, shit. 

 

 

Jeno tells Renjun about it, which means that Jaemin knows too, which also means that Jeno opens his door on a Friday night and finds the two of them standing there with overnight bags in one hand and a bottle of soju in the other.  

Jeno raises an eyebrow at them. “What is this about?”

“We’re here to witness your ghost,” Renjun says, pushing past Jeno and putting the soju on Jeno’s kitchen table. 

Jaemin walks past Jeno too, rolling his eyes, as he repeats, “Ghost.”

Renjun slaps at Jaemin’s arm. “Ghosts are real,” he says.

“Of course, babe,” Jaemin replies, wrapping an arm around Renjun’s shoulders.

Jeno watches them from his doorway with disgust. He’s tempted to walk out of the door and not look back, but he also doesn’t trust what they would do in his apartment. “If you guys are going to flirt the entire night, please leave my apartment now.”

“We won’t,” the two of them singsong. 

It’s a lie. They set up camp in the living room, steal all of Jeno’s spare blankets, turn on a movie and watch it snuggling. Jeno left their shared apartment to stop feeling like a third wheel and now here he is, in his own apartment, still feeling like a third wheel.

 

 

Jeno’s on the way back to the living room from the bathroom when he hears voices coming from his bedroom. Jeno walks closer, hoping he isn’t going to walk into something he’ll regret, and that Jaemin and Renjun have some tact and dignity and _respect_ , when he realises it’s a voice he doesn’t recognise.

“Sometimes I just get so worried, y’know?” the voice says.

A different voice that Jeno recognises as Renjun, hums in agreement. 

“I mean, he spent a whole week eating cup noodles and drinking energy drinks. Who does that?”

“Ah,” Renjun says, “Jaemin used to always cook for him.” Renjun tuts. “What a liar. He told us he was cooking for himself.”

“He never does,” the unidentified voice says. 

“Hey,” Jeno says, indignant, bursting into the room, “I cook for myself sometimes. I made pasta last week!”

The moment he bursts in, Jeno sees Renjun sitting on his bed, and then someone else sitting next to him, grey-blue and wispy, who makes eye contact with Jeno and disappears the next second. 

“You scared him away,” Renjun says disapprovingly, but Jeno hardly registers that. Instead, Jeno updates what he knows about the ghost: the ghost is friendly, lame, _real_ and also really freaking cute.

 

 

It takes about five minutes of Renjun and Jeno talking to the air, coaxing the ghost to come back, before he appears again. 

Jeno takes a closer look at him, and his initial impression was correct: the ghost really is cute. And also around his age. And also noticing that Jeno is staring at him because the ghost looks at Jeno in the eyes, coughs and then looks away. The ghost’s entire being is a translucent blue that shifts to grey when he moves, and it feels like he could be blown away in the wind, but Jeno thinks that if there was colour to him, there’d be pink on his cheeks. 

Renjun nudges Jeno’s side, and Jeno realises he should probably say something. “Um,” Jeno says, “thank you for cleaning up around the apartment. And reminding me of where I put my stuff. And waking me up, so I’m not late for class.”

“It’s no problem, Jeno,” the ghost says. 

“Hey, you know my name!” Jeno exclaims and the ghost nods. “Is there something we can call you?”

“I’m Mark,” the ghost says, with a smile. Jeno feels a little floored.

“Nice to finally meet you, Mark,” Jeno says, lamely. 

From next to him, Renjun coughs to hide his laugh. Jeno looks at him and is about to kick him out to the living room when he sees the sparkle of mischief in Renjun’s eyes. 

“Hey Mark,” Renjun says. “My boyfriend, Jaemin, in the living room, doesn’t believe in ghosts. Want to help him believe?”

Mark laughs and grins boyishly. He looks so young. “Sure, why not?”

 

 

Jeno and Renjun hide around the corner to watch Mark mess with Jaemin. It’s simple at first—a piece of popcorn flying from the bowl in Jaemin’s hand onto the floor. Jaemin doesn’t even notice until it happens again and again and again. Jeno sees Jaemin’s back straighten so suddenly, he starts to laugh and gets a glare from Renjun in return. When they turn their attention back to Mark’s haunting, they see the pillow Jaemin was leaning on hovering in the air before it falls down onto Jaemin’s head. The lights start to flicker on and off, and the television turns to static. Jaemin is now completely still. Jeno wishes he could see his face. 

The finale, the cherry on top, is Mark with only his face visible, saying, “Boo.” Mark’s face is scrunched up, probably in an attempt to make himself look scarier, which to Jeno only makes him look cuter. Jaemin shrieks and flings the bowl of popcorn in his hand away. The atmosphere is lost when Mark starts to laugh, and then Mark’s whole body appears and collapses onto the ground in a fit of giggles. 

Jeno can’t hold it in anymore and starts to laugh loudly. Renjun runs to Jaemin and clutches Jaemin’s head to his chest, his shoulders shaking in laughter.

“What the fuck guys?” Jaemin says, his hand on his heart. He leans back against Renjun, and Renjun brushes away the sweat-matted hair on his forehead. “I was wondering where you guys went and here you were making friends with a ghost without me.”

“Sorry dude,” Mark says, in between fits of laughter. He looks happier, and he grins when he meets Jeno’s eyes. It makes Jeno smile. Then, Mark notices the movie that’s playing. “Oh! I haven’t watched that in forever.”

Jeno looks to Renjun and Jaemin who are both staring back at him. “Want to join us?” Jeno says. “We can start from the beginning.”

Mark looks up at him with surprise. “Really?” Mark asks, smiling. “Has the Halloween party happened yet?” Jeno shakes his head. “Then it’s fine, let’s just watch it from here.”

Jaemin makes them all clean the popcorn from the floor, while he ‘recovers from his shock’. Jeno knows he’s just using that as an excuse to be lazy, but he lets it slide. Jeno turns the movie back on and everyone settles into their positions: Jaemin and Renjun together on the floor, and Mark sitting next to Jeno on the couch. When Jeno spares a glance at him, Mark’s eyes are focused on the television in front of them, and strangely enough, it feels nice and comfortable to be next to him.

 

 

After that, Mark starts to show his form more and more until he’s there all the time that it’s like Jeno has a roommate. The best roommate at that, because Mark doesn’t make a mess, tidies up, and is in general, really nice to talk to. (Mark also doesn’t steal Jeno’s food, make out on the couch, make out in the kitchen, make out in Jeno’s _room_ , or _defile their eating area_ —okay, maybe Jeno has a teensy tiny bit of spite over why he moved out of his last apartment with Jaemin and Renjun. Maybe. Just a bit.)

Most of the time, Mark watches Jeno study and tells him when his ‘breaks’ are too long. 

“But why,” Jeno whines, after Mark tells him to stop playing phone games and go back to studying. “I hate studying. Don’t you hate studying?”

Mark, amused from where he’s perched on Jeno’s bed, shakes his head. “I can’t remember, but I don’t think I’d know. I never studied past high school.”

Jeno’s heart pangs. It’s been a few weeks, and Jeno’s still a bit hesitant to ask, but Mark just looks at him and rolls his eyes when Jeno opens his mouth and closes it like a fish.

“Spit it out,” Mark says.

“I don’t want to overstep,” Jeno says, “but do you know what happened? Why you’re like this?”

Mark smiles at Jeno’s hesitation. “You’d be disappointed if you thought I had a good story to tell,” Mark says. “The last thing I remember is studying for my final exams and then the next thing I knew I was here. Pretty boring.”

Jeno stares at Mark. Mark doesn’t look sad, but Jeno guesses he’s had a lot of time to think about it. 

“Well, if you want, you can study with me?” Jeno asks, opening his textbook. Every fibre of his being fights him, but Mark’s smile at Jeno’s offer is worth it. Jeno’s grades also improve with Mark as his study buddy, and if it makes Jaemin jealous, well, that’s just an added bonus.

 

 

The only thing that Mark continuously nags Jeno about is cooking. 

“You have to cook for yourself,” Mark says, hovering over Jeno as he attempts to fry an egg. “No more week-long ramen and energy drink binges.” Mark shudders. “Honestly, though, I wasn’t the best cook either, so I can’t really help you there.”

“Why are you so nice and helpful?” Jeno says. Jeno cracks the egg open and manages not to break the yolk. It’s also shell-free, which is another win. “Why don’t you just haunt people?”

Mark points at the chopsticks for Jeno to use, but Jeno just gives him a look and takes a spatula. “I tried to in the beginning but then everyone kept leaving and I didn’t like it. Felt mean.”

“Such a nice ghost,” Jeno says. He flips the egg over and Mark applauses. Jeno takes a tiny bow.

“I still haunted people I didn’t like,” Mark says, like he’s trying to show that he isn’t the nicest being Jeno has ever met. “I didn’t like the last tenants, so I always moved their keys so they would be late in the morning.”

“Very scary,” Jeno says smiling, and Mark rolls his eyes. “How about me? You were pretty nice to me early on.” 

“Well, I liked you from when you helped the old lady across the hall bring in her groceries,” Mark says. That was during Jeno’s first week. Jeno was rewarded with an offer to come over to eat if he didn’t have any food, but Jeno’s been too embarrassed to take it. “I think I like you best,” Mark continues, and then seems to realise what he’s said and very nearly disappears.

“I like you best too,” Jeno says. “Even though you’re the only ghost I’ve ever met.” 

Mark comes back in full force, looking pleased, and Jeno stares at him for so long that the eggs are black around the edges when he remembers them.

 

 

Jeno keeps Renjun updated and sometimes he comes over, sometimes with Jaemin, sometimes without. Renjun always gives the excuse that he’s over to check up on Jeno, but Jeno knows it’s really to talk to Mark. Mark likes both of them and tells Jeno as much, and if it makes Mark happy then Jeno will gladly let his friends take over his apartment for a little while. 

Donghyuck visits when Renjun lets it slip of Jeno’s crush. Donghyuck barges in one morning, sits at Jeno’s kitchen table and orders Jeno to make him some coffee. Mark walks in to check who’s there, and Donghyuck lets loose a long whistle.

“Wow,” Donghyuck says, eyeing Mark, “Jeno wasn’t lying when he said you were cute.”

“Donghyuck!” Jeno shouts, but Donghyuck just cackles. 

Mark gets that embarrassed look on his face that Jeno recognises. “I’m going to leave you guys alone for a bit,” Mark says, and then he vanishes.

He hasn’t vanished in weeks. Jeno stares at Donghyuck, who just shrugs. “Sorry?” Donghyuck says, completely unapologetic. 

Mark comes back later, and Donghyuck actually starts a conversation with him. They warm up to each other fast, and Jeno watches Donghyuck pull out his phone to show Mark something with a deep sense of regret. Jeno’s crush with Donghyuck. It suddenly seems like a dangerous combination.

When Donghyuck leaves, he whispers in Jeno’s ear, “Looks like you’re not the only one with a crush.”

Jeno shuts the door in Donghyuck’s face and ignores the way his heart flutters in his chest.

 

 

Jeno’s mother goes on a trip overseas in the middle of spring, which leaves Jeno taking care of his family’s cats for the week. Jeno wakes up to cats in his living room, and he truly feels like he’s in a dream. But then he starts to sneeze and the reality of it all comes crashing down. 

Bongshik curls around Jeno’s legs. Seol and Nal sit in front of Jeno and meow at him. Jeno savours their attention before he goes to the kitchen to get their food. Mark watches as Jeno rifles through his cabinets to reach the cat food. “What?” Jeno asks, measuring out a spoonful of cat food and putting it into a bowl. “You’re staring.”

“If you like cats so much, why don’t you get one? The old tenants had cats too—the apartment allows it.”

Jeno pulls out a bottle out of his pocket and throws it to Mark, who catches it easily. 

“Allergy medicine,” Mark reads.

Jeno nods. “I have to take one every day, but I’ll still sneeze a lot.”

“Aw,” Mark says. “You really love them.” His eyes soften and Jeno’s heart does the weird thumping thing. It must be the allergy tablets, Jeno thinks, even though it’s been happening for weeks now. 

 

 

The next weekend, Jeno has to say goodbye to his cats, and he spends the rest of the weekend moping. Mark has disappeared somewhere, so Jeno is left on his own to watch cat videos on YouTube and to try to see whether he can fit in a visit to his mother to see them again. 

By late afternoon, Mark is back, but it isn’t Mark that tips Jeno off of this. Instead, it’s a tiny grey-blue ghost cat, who jumps on Jeno’s chest and nearly startles him into an early grave. The ghost cat is adorable, and Jeno reaches out slowly and scratches behind the cat’s ears. The cat leans into his touch and Jeno very nearly _aww’s_ out loud. 

Mark laughs at him and Jeno finally notices that Mark’s leaning on the kitchen bench watching them. 

“What’s her name?” Jeno whispers, as the cat settles on Jeno’s chest. Jeno will stay in this position for the rest of his life and never get up.

“Nala,” Mark says. “I used to see her around sometimes. I wondered if she was still here.”

“She’s beautiful,” Jeno says, petting the top of her head. Her eyes are closed, and she purrs softly.

“She likes you,” Mark says, moving to sit at the foot of the couch. “Now you can have the cat without the allergies.”

Jeno stares at Mark from above Nala’s head. “Thank you,” he says.

Mark ducks his head and scratches at the back of his ear. “It’s nothing.”

 

 

Two weeks later, Jeno’s balancing the difficult tasks of petting Nala, watching television and eating chicken when he realises that he and Mark have never actually touched. 

Mark wanders into the living room a few minutes later and settles into the spot next to Jeno. Nala lifts her head and slinks over to sit in Mark’s lap. Mark gives Jeno a look of triumph before his gaze lands on Jeno’s chicken. 

“Do you want some?” Jeno asks, when Mark continues to stare. “Can you eat?”

Mark nods, and Jeno hands him a piece. Jeno watches as the piece enters Mark’s mouth but then disappears. He definitely doesn’t stare at Mark’s lips.

“I can’t taste it,” Mark says, after he chews and swallows, “but sometimes I can feel it. It gives off a vibe kind of, like an aura.”

The drama on the television is now secondary in Jeno’s list of interests. “Oh,” Jeno says. “How about people? Do they give off a feeling?”

Mark hums, and then tilts his head, thinking. “Yeah,” he says. “Not everyone, but sometimes.”

Jeno means to take a minute to process this, but before he knows it, he blurts out, “How about me? What do I feel like?” He holds his hand out, and Mark hesitates. “It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Jeno says, a bit hurt. He takes his hand back.

“It’s not that,” Mark says quickly. “It’s just—I don’t want you to be disappointed if I can’t feel anything.”

Jeno gulps. “Maybe we should try.” He holds his hand out again and Mark hesitantly takes it. It feels cold, but solid. It’s strange but Jeno doesn’t hate it. It feels a lot like Nala but, somehow it makes Jeno feel calmer and more relaxed. 

“What does it feel like?” Jeno whispers. There’s no real reason to, but talking at a normal level seems like it would break the thin air between them.

“Warm,” Mark says, looking down, a soft smile on his face. “It feels warm.”

Jeno will blame the beer that he drank along with the chicken later, but he leans forward and presses his lips against Mark’s. It’s cold against his, but Jeno likes the feeling. 

Jeno pulls back and sees Mark staring at him with wide eyes. Jeno immediately regrets it and is about to apologise when Mark kisses him back. Jeno presses in deeper and moves his hand to Mark’s shoulder to pull Mark in closer, when Nala sidles in between them and meows loudly. The two of them pull apart laughing. 

Jeno lifts Nala into his arms and kisses the top of her head. Mark leans in and kisses her too.

“You really are my favourite,” Jeno says to Mark over the top of Nala’s head. “Ghost or otherwise.”

“You’re mine too,” Mark says, with a smile so lovely it squeezes Jeno’s heart.

**Author's Note:**

> happy halloween!! the image of jeno with his ghost boyfriend and ghost cat was honestly too strong not to write… find me on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/thursday) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/falserecall) if you want to chat~


End file.
